I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to electronics, and more specifically to a driver amplifier having improved performance.
II. Background
A wireless device (e.g., a cellular phone or a smart phone) in a wireless communication system may transmit and receive data for two-way communication. The wireless device may include a transmitter for data transmission and a receiver for data reception. For data transmission, the transmitter may modulate a radio frequency (RF) carrier signal with data to obtain a modulated signal, amplify the modulated signal to obtain an output RF signal having the proper output power level, and transmit the output RF signal via an antenna to a base station. For data reception, the receiver may obtain a received RF signal via the antenna and may condition and process the received RF signal to recover data sent by the base station.
The transmitter may support multiple operating modes (or simply, modes). Each mode may correspond to a different transmit power level, a different radio technology, a different frequency band, etc. The transmitter may include a number of transmit paths to support the multiple modes. Each transmit path may support a specific mode and may include various circuits such as a driver amplifier, a power amplifier, impedance matching circuits, etc. A relatively large number of amplifiers and circuits may then be required for the transmitter, which may increase the size and cost of the transmitter.